OFFICER REPORT

VP Services & communication

The Store and The Extra Store

A new retail outlet has opened on campus, so please welcome The Extra Store! [Pause for applause] Located where Barclays Bank used to be on Square Four, The Extra Store will be the convenience store on campus, operating from the morning to the evening and offering all your essential goods as well as the ultimate lunch time offering of which will include meal deals from hot foods to cold foods to sushi – exciting times!

With the addition of The Extra Store, the existing store will move into a role of offering a 24/7 service. With more frozen meats and fresh fruit and vegetables, The Store will offer a one-stop shop for all your weekly needs. With the addition of a coffee machine accessible 24/7 in The Store, we have aimed to provide students with all the products you would need. Whether you were planning a weekly shop or to just grab a meal deal, our stores will have you covered.

And of course if we’re missing something you want stocked, don’t forget the to leave a note on the Product Request Wall!

BASE Bar and Club

From news of a new store to news of an equally exciting launch of our new venue – BASE Bar and Club! We’re excited for you guys to come and engage with our new venue (which used to be Level Up) during Fresher’s and beyond! We’ve injected a degree of flexibility to the venue which will now operate as BASE Bar by day, where you can chill out, socialise, grab some food, play some pool and sample a craft beer from our selection. If beer isn’t your choice of drink, then don’t forget to try out one of our new Signature Shakes!

“But what’s BASE Club then Jack?” Well, BASE Club is the venue’s night-time identity, in which we will host a variety of club nights from Rock and Indie Nights to Urban - we want to offer an alternative night out than just Sub Zero. But in the meantime, before the Bar becomes the Club, we will be hosting a variety of entertainment, from Quiz Nights to Live Music to Comedy Nights and many more, so don’t forget to stay tuned to what’s coming up in BASE!

Banning Procedures

We’re preparing ourselves internally for Fresher’s Week by ensuring that we are acting as fairly as possible towards students during their nights out. We will no longer issue cross campus bans (unless the reason for the ban is due to a major offence), meaning that if you were banned from Sub Zero, you will still be allowed in the SU Bar (for example) – you just won’t be allowed into the club until your ban is served. Please note that if you were banned from a Milk It, you will be banned from both SU Bar and Sub Zero (essentially, a nightlife ban).

We want to work with you when you are on the receiving end of a ban and want to be as fair as possible and allow you to engage with our services aside from the venue you were banned from. In light of this, we are perfecting a system in which we will issue warnings on a night out. Two warnings will equal a ban, so don’t take this for granted – we want you to have a good time but within reason, so work with us on this!

But anyway, no ones going to ruin their Fresher’s Fortnight by getting a ban, right?

“Safe Night Out” project (it’s a working title)

Whilst we want you to have a good night, we also want you to have a safe night – and by that we mean from pre-drinks to bedtime. We are looking to launch an awareness campaign that will educate you on issues such as spiking, harassment and ways in which to avoid getting too drunk to get into the club. This isn’t to say we experience this in our venues, but we intend for you to be aware of what will be included in this project and use this knowledge forever and beyond so that you can always have a good, safe night wherever you are and whenever you go.

Student DJs

We had a considerable response when we reached out to prospective DJs on campus, and we have created a shortlist ready for Fresher’s Fortnight and further events. We have various events coming up for our successful DJs to perform in, and will allow slots for nights in BASE. But we’re always looking for more, so if you think of yourself as a “top dee-jay,” drop our new Events and Promo Coordinator Alice an email at aw16039@essex.ac.uk

Rebel

Did you know that you can now sign up to Rebel as you would a society for free? With a new website ready to go live, and many exciting opportunities to get engaged with Rebel and the Creative Studios during Fresher’s Fortnight and across the year, there’s never been a better time to come and join our ever growing student media network. And don’t forget to check out the Experience Tent during Fresher’s Fair for a taste of what we have to offer!

Student Led Services

Recruitment has opened for our Student Led Services project. We are looking for students to come forward and assert their ownership on our venues by providing us feedback of what we’re doing well and what we’re missing, be it a product in the SU Bar or a style of music missing from Sub Zero – this is your opportunity to have your voice heard when the important decisions are being made. Whilst also being given access to the finances and operational costs involved with our venues, this focus group will look great on your CV whilst, ultimately, benefitting our services and ensuring the student voice is being heard!

The Cine10 programme has been decided, and we’re excited to be able to offer you a range of classic films as well as newer releases for an affordable price! Films shown will always be listed on https://www.essexstudent.com/whatson/ and range from Suicide Squad, to David Brent: Life on the Road, to Finding Dory, to Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, to a 3D showing of the new Jungle Book and many more!

Plus I wanted to see Suicide Squad but everyone keeps saying its bad so now’s the chance I guess!

Friday Nights

Me and Sam, our VP Activities, are looking into how we can create a vibe on a Friday evening in the Squares to get you ready for the weekend. We’re looking at having a mixture of societies performing anything from dancing to singing, followed by music to accompany the whole procession. With deals in the bar and music on the squares, we hope to create a chilled out environment on square 3 for you guys to come and celebrate your week’s achievements.

Student Idea: “Slide, not Stride!”

After discussing the idea further with campus services and the relevant health and safety officials, as well as the creator of the idea (the “Founder and President of the People’s Working Republic of the Slide), I was given the blessing by the proposer to close the idea upon the grounds that the idea created too many complications, of which not all had a solution. The idea, I regret to announce, has been closed.

All other student ideas have yet to receive any updates from the previous Officer Report. When progress is made, I will include this in my next report. Of course, if you don’t want to wait that long, check out the ideas page which will be updated as soon as we hear anything. The ideas page is available at: https://www.essexstudent.com/ideas/archive/

Aside from that, thanks for reading and have fun during Fresher’s. See you there!

jack street

If you have got any questions or comments about my report please post them below or contact me at vpservices@essex.ac.uk.

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